Bottom line: Generally speaking, the longer the public spotlight shines on a plaintiff’s lawsuit, the better

If you’re a plaintiffs’ attorney working on a high-profile case, you need a Day 100 Strategy for that case. 

What the hell is a Day 100 Strategy? I’ll tell you in a moment.

But first, let’s take a step back.

If you’re a plaintiffs’ attorney working on a high-profile case, you want to keep that case in the media and on the top of the public’s mind for as long as possible. 

You want this because you know that most defendants can handle one day of bad publicity. When the complaint is filed alleging that a defendant did something bad, it is typically not a good day for the defendant in terms of their reputation and perhaps their business. But they can survive. 

It’s when a defendant is faced with a consistent stream of bad publicity as a result of a legal dispute that it and its legal team finally start to come around and think to themselves “We should probably end this case as soon as possible.”

This is where a Day 100 Strategy comes into play: What will a plaintiffs’ attorney be doing 100 days after a complaint is filed or a legal dispute commences, to help keep the case or dispute front and center in the eyes of the media and the public to help maximize the potential for a favorable—and perhaps quicker—settlement than might otherwise be possible?

It is incumbent upon the plaintiffs’ attorney to take a step back and look at what’s going on in the case. He or she should be looking at pending or upcoming court filings. He or she should be looking at what’s going on with his or her client or clients. And he or she should be looking at what’s going on with the defendant or defendants. Any developments in these categories could provide the basis for future news stories and social media chatter. 

For example, if in the course of discovery, an attorney comes across information that can be released without fear of running afoul of ethics rules or a governing protective order, and it’s the kind of information that tells a story about the defendants that would be beneficial to the attorney and the client, that is the kind of item the attorney might want to go to the media about.

Another example is a follow-up story the attorney could pursue about his or her client, such as the condition of the client or his or her improving health if the client was injured in an event that gave rise to a personal injury case.

Yet another example is using FOIA or a state’s Freedom of Information Act- type laws to get information about the defendants or third parties in a lawsuit that might be able to be packaged and given to a reporter. 

Sometimes, it is beneficial for an attorney to provide a reporter a tip that puts him or her on to the trail of a possible story. This is especially useful when an attorney does not have the resources to investigate a tip that a defendant or third party has done something wrong. Local or national media organizations could have the resources to investigate a tip if they deem the tip—and the information it might lead to—newsworthy.

To be clear, when I say a “Day 100 Strategy,” I don’t necessarily mean waiting exactly 100 days after a legal complaint has been filed or a legal dispute has commenced before an attorney goes back to the media regarding that complaint and the overall lawsuit.

Rather, a Day 100 Strategy is a general strategy plaintiffs’ attorneys should be employing as a way to help keep their clients’ high-profile cases in front of the public and in front of the media for as often as possible and as long as possible until the defendants come to the settlement table and offer to resolve the case to the plaintiffs’ attorneys’ and clients’ liking.

Bottom line: Generally speaking, the longer the public spotlight shines on a plaintiff’s lawsuit, the better

Wayne Pollock is the founder and managing attorney of Copo Strategies in Philadelphia, a national legal services and communications firm. Attorneys, law firms, and their clients enlist Copo Strategies to ethically, proactively, and strategically engage the media and the public regarding those clients’ cases (to help resolve those cases favorably), and to engage the media, referral sources, and prospective clients regarding their firms (to help bring new client matters in the door). Contact him at waynepollock@copostrategies.com or 215–454–2180.